


Will and Nico Sitting in a Tree

by percyspandapillowpet



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Capture the Flag, Getting Together, I haven't even read this yet oops, M/M, it's way too short, read my notes for why
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-10-10 04:16:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10428882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/percyspandapillowpet/pseuds/percyspandapillowpet
Summary: Nico rolls his eyes. “Can’t believe I used to have a crush on that guy,” he mumbles, and then immediately covers his mouth.Oh gods.“What—what?” Will asks. “You what?”Nico turns away, burying his face in his hands. “I—I said that out loud, didn’t I?”





	

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for the title, the length, the shitty writing quality, the errors, etc. I only wrote this because Solangelo currently has 2994 fics and so does Percabeth and I've been waiting for this moment for years.
> 
> Solangelo is passing Percabeth in the standings, guys. HERE WE GO
> 
> But this is also kind of funny and you should read it. :)

Six months ago, spending two hours guarding a stupid flagpole wouldn’t have been Nico’s idea of a fun Saturday afternoon—and now, it still wasn’t, but at least it was with Will Solace.

Yeah, he admitted it, Nico has a big fat crush on him. It was awful—especially so because Will insisted on spending almost every waking minute hanging out with him and/or checking his vitals. Nico felt like he should be happy with this, happy with finally having a friend who cared for him—and he was, but he also really wanted it to be something more.

“Ugh,” Will grumbles from next to him. “I can’t believe they put is in charge of this damn flag. Why couldn’t we be scouts instead?”

Nico kicks a pebble, leaning against Zeus’ fist. “You’re a terrible scout.”

Will pokes him in the side. “Fine. Maybe I am. But _you’re_ not. How about you shadow travel us to the other team’s flag and we finally put an end to this game?”

Nico raises an eyebrow. “Telling me that I should use Underworld magic? Who are you and what have you done with Will Solace?” When Will laughs, Nico can’t help but smile. “Besides, that’s against the rules.”

Will nudges him with his shoulder. “Since when do you care about rules?”

See, it’s when he says stuff like _that_ that those damn skeletal butterflies resurrect in Nico’s stomach.

“Fine,” Nico sighs, trying to mask his sudden nervousness. “You sure you’re ready to experience shadow travel?”

Will grins. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Nico grabs his shoulder, but Will moves his hand to his own, and Nico’s hard nearly stops.

“Um,” he says, struggling to form a coherent word, let alone a full sentence. “Um, keep in mind that I haven’t done this in a few months, so I don’t really, um…anyways.” And on that note, he steps into the shadows.

***

A tree. He was not expecting a tree.

They sort of immediately start falling from the top of it, and Will screams, and Nico has to place a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

“Will!” he hisses. “We’re not supposed to be doing this. You’re going to give us away.”  
Will squeaks. “Right, right. I’m sorry. But why are we in a _tree?_ ”

Nico shrugs innocently. “Because I haven’t been allowed to shadow travel for six months, and my skills are a little rusty.”

Will rolls his eyes. “Oh, yeah. Blame the guy who’s just been saving your life.”

“Hey, I saved yours, too.”

“You sure did.” Suddenly, Will’s looking him straight in the eye. Suddenly, they’re really, really close.

Nico clears his throat and scoots back a little—well, as much as he can while sitting on a tree branch. “So, um…plan?”

“Ah,” Will says. He glances down at the ground, and Nico swears he looks…disappointed. “Well, I don’t know. I don’t want you shadow traveling us down from here, because you already proved that you’re not ready for it yet.” Then he grabs Nico’s hand again and brings it close to his face. “Are you alright, by the way? Any dizziness, drowsiness, nausea—”

“Hey!”

They both glance down, searching for the source of the shout, and their eyes land on a guy in full Greek armor—but he’s still quite recognizable, even behind the mask.

“Will and Nico!” Percy calls. “What are you guys doing up there?”

“Nothing,” Nico quickly replies.

“I thought you were supposed to be guarding our flag!”

“We were,” Nico says. “It got boring.”

Will snickers beside him.

“But—” Just then, someone streaks by—Annabeth, probably—and Percy runs after them.

Nico rolls his eyes. “Can’t believe I used to have a crush on that guy,” he mumbles, and then immediately covers his mouth.

Oh gods.

“What—what?” Will asks. “You what?”

Nico turns away, burying his face in his hands. “I—I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

Will chuckles breathlessly. “Uh, yeah, you sure did.” He pauses. “You had a crush on Percy?”

He doesn’t sound upset or anything, just curious, so Nico peeks through his fingers. “Uh, maybe?”

Will just smiles. “I did, too. Oh, gods, I can’t believe myself.”

Wait…what?

Nico brings his hands away. “You— _you_ did?”

Will grins. “I think everyone did at some point, to be honest. I mean, he’s _Percy Jackson_.” He hesitates. “Not that there aren’t better people, now, obviously.”

“What?” Nico asks. “What do you mean?”

Will gestures to nothing in particular. “You know. Better people to have crushes on.”

“Like who?” Nico really didn’t mean for it to sound so harsh…but it sort of did.

Thankfully, Will just raises an eyebrow. “Like absolutely _clueless_ sons of Hades.”

Nico’s head whips toward him. “What?”

Will turns away, but Nico catches a glimpse of red on his face. “Exactly what I just said.”

“You…you have a crush…”

Will sighs, turning around again. “On you, yes,” he mumbles. “I’m sorry. We don’t have to—you probably don’t—” He starts to move away, searching for a way to climb down from the tree.

“No,” Nico says, putting a hand on his arm to stop him from moving. “No. I…I like that. I like _you._ ”

Then Will smiles, and that makes all of the awkwardness totally worth it.

“Good,” he says, as if he’s checking Nico’s vitals. He takes his hand and squeezes it. “Good. Now we’ve got to—”

“Hey, look!” someone else yells from below them. “It’s Will and Nico, sitting in a tree—”

“Run?” Nico suggests.

Will nods vigorously. “Yeah.”


End file.
